Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Sources: Trump to Endorse Ryan Tonight; Awaiting Trump, Pence Rally; Trump: Hillary Clinton is "Unstable" and "Unbalanced"; Clinton: What I Told FBI "Consistent" With Public Remarks; New Video Supposedly Shows U.S. Payment to Iran; Police Release Video from Officers' Killing of Suspect. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 05, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:10] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, breaking news. Donald Trump about to rally a big crowd of supporters in Wisconsin expected to suddenly reverse course and endorse Paul Ryan. What changed?
Plus, a former CIA chief calling Trump dangerous and a threat to national security as critics question Trump's mental state, our special report coming up. A new video tonight, stacks of cash in actual wooden pallets. The first look at the money America delivered to Iran's leader the day Iran released American hostages. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. Donald Trump expected to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan tonight only 72 hours after he said he didn't support him. Paul Ryan meantime says no one has said anything to him or his office about this. He's hundreds of miles from Green Bay tonight. He won't be at the rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL RYAN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I've been running around Kenosha, so I haven't heard anything, to be honest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump speaking live in just minutes from now to a crowd of thousands of supporters in the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin. These are live pictures from Green Bay. And meantime, Trump spent his day slamming Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, this is the legacy of Hillary Clinton. It's called death, destruction, chaos and weakness. She is weak. She is a weak person. I'll tell you what. I know her. She's weak. She lied about it. She lied about it, pathological. She lied about it over and over and over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And I am joined tonight by my panel of political experts. They are going to be here with me for the hour. I want to begin, though, with Jason Carroll who is OUTFRONT with the Trump campaign in Wisconsin.
Jason, 72 hours ago Trump with great fanfare saying he's not there yet on a Ryan endorsement, now all of a sudden, he's there. Why now?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a very good question. There could be a number of answers and a number of reasons for that. It could be the bad publicity and it could simply be because he's finally decided to see reason and finally decided to figure out that perhaps having members of the GOP establishment on your side is not such a bad thing after all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: And if you don't like me, that's OK. Vote for Pence because it's the same thing. Great guy.
CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump, refocusing his sights on Hillary Clinton after a turbulent week.
TRUMP: She's really pretty close to unhinged and you've seen it. You've seen it a couple of times, but people in the background know it. The people that know her know it, and she's like an unbalanced person.
CARROLL: The Republican nominee also taking a step toward unifying the GOP with his expected endorsement of House Speaker Paul Ryan at his rally in Wisconsin tonight. Trump caused another intraparty rift earlier this week when he said he was not ready to endorse Ryan's reelection bid. GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence split with his running mate after Trump says, he gave the go ahead.
TRUMP: He came up to me, he called me the other day and said, do you mind? Because he likes Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan is a good guy actually. He's a good guy.
CARROLL: Ryan said today he has not spoken to Trump since the convention last month and again, suggested his endorsement of Trump is not set in stone.
RYAN: There's never a blank check, and you know that. I see no purpose in doing this tit for tat petty back and forth with Donald Trump because it serves no good purpose in my mind.
CARROLL: Ryan and other top Wisconsin Republicans, Governor Scott Walker and Senator Ron Johnson are expected to skip tonight's Trump event in Green Bay. The Clinton campaign also blasting Trump on foreign policy today releasing a new TV ad featuring conservative Trump critics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he governs consistent with some of the things he said as a candidate, I would be very frightened.
CARROLL: All this as Clinton picks up the endorsement of former CIA Director Mike Morell who referred to Trump in a New York Times op-ed as unqualified and a threat to National Security. Even adding that Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin had turned him into an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation. Pence responding that Trump has the toughness to stand up to Putin.
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: People that know Donald Trump knows that he knows how to stand up, and he knows how to stand strong and standing up to Russian aggression is going to be really different under a Trump-Pence administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And it should be noted, Erin, that Trump supporters say that he's been far more focused at his rallies as of late, more focused yesterday in Maine and more focused earlier today in Iowa, less shouting, less screaming and less name calling and more on message -- Erin.
[19:05:11] BURNETT: All right. Jason, thank you very much.
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT in Washington tonight. And Manu, Trump is finally planning on endorsing Ryan. Right? Pretty big reversal in just a few days. You've been talking to your sources, is this going to stop the bleeding between Trump and the GOP leadership?
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it may stop the bleeding but it really depends on what Donald Trump does next in the next couple of days. In fact, Paul Ryan just did a radio interview in which he said, I wish he would be more disciplined, so top Republicans I've talked to hope that this doesn't just amount to one step forward and two steps back. You know, since Donald Trump reopened this old wound with Ryan, we've heard them, Republicans really deliver this simple message to Donald Trump, attack Hillary Clinton and not your own party and don't engage in this unwinnable fights.
So, he did most recently with the Khan family. In fact, I am told by a source familiar with the private meeting earlier this week between John McCain and Mike Pence that John McCain was very clear. He said, if you want to keep control of the Senate and you want to win the White House, make sure Trump is focused on Hillary Clinton and that will unite the party. And Erin, I am told that Mike Pence agreed with that. So, if Donald starts to begin to make up some ground in the polls the establishment will get behind him and if the standing continues to slide expect more and more Republicans to abandon their nominee -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you very much.
RAJU: Thank you.
BURNETT: And OUTFRONT tonight, Trump supporter Congressman Lee Zeldin. He sets on House Foreign Affairs Committee. He's a veteran of the Iraq war.
Congressman, good to have you with me again. Let me start with this endorsement of Paul Ryan that we are told will happen at this rally tonight, just 72 hours after Donald Trump said he would not support him, saying he wasn't there yet. He now is now going to do so. What could have changed in that timeframe? Do you have concerns that Trump is caving to pressure from the GOP establishment? REP. LEE ZELDIN (R), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, TRUMP SUPPORTER:
Well, I don't know all of the different factors leading to Mr. Trump's calculation as it relates to this endorsement. I do know that as far as Wisconsin goes, Paul Ryan is very popular and there are people who like him throughout the state. You have Governor Walker, you have the chairman of the RNC from Wisconsin. So, it might be a particular effort on his part to try to reach further than the people who are supporting him right now. But I'm just speculating. I don't know for sure what that calculation is.
BURNETT: And what is your, you know, gut reaction to the fact that our understanding at least from Paul Ryan, he just said he doesn't know what Donald Trump is going to say. He is not anywhere near the rally. He is not going to be there. Does that worry you that there doesn't seem to be any sort of communications between these two men on this.
ZELDIN: Again, I don't know what Mr. Trump is going to say tonight. I don't know everything that is adding up to his endorsement of Speaker Ryan. I do think that it is smart for everyone who lives in Wisconsin who does like this speaker. Building that bridge could be a good thing. And if you fast forward to January, if he is still the Speaker of the House and Mitch McConnell is still the majority leader and Mr. Trump is in the White House. As far as trying to achieve policy goals, you can't do it without Congress and building that bridge can be very helpful if they're all there.
BURNETT: Interesting. Interesting take on it and it's important for Trump to do what he needs Paul Ryan. I want to ask you about the other news today though, Congressman. The former CIA Chief Mike Morell said he is voting for Hillary Clinton and in an op-ed in part, he wrote this of Trump, "The character traits he's exhibited during the primary seasons suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous commander-in-chief.
"These traits include his obvious need for self-aggrandizement, his overreaction to perceive slights, his tendency to make decisions based on intuition. His refusal to change his views based on new information. His routine carelessness with the facts. His unwillingness to listen to others and his lack of respect for the rule of law."
That is a damning list from a man who served in the CIA under three Democrats, three Republicans who's voted for candidates of both parties. What do you say?
ZELDIN: I don't know how much an individual endorsement like this is going to, you know, influence the outcome of this race and it is something that we are obviously discussing tonight. You can make an argument on behalf of strengths and weaknesses that both candidates have. I think that the former CIA Director did go pretty far in accusing Mr. Trump of possibly being an agent. That would be his conclusion.
BURNETT: Yes. ZELDIN: So, he did go a little bit too far and as far as Hillary
Clinton goes, she is not perfect as far as her foreign policy goes. So, you know, there should be a substantive debate about what the future is, with our relationships with Iran, what should be the right policy with regards to refugees and strengthening our relationships with our friends like Israel and that's substantive debate over what's less than 100 days left. I think that's going to have a much more -- that debate, that vetting is going to have a much more -- a much more -- a much bigger outcome on the impact of this race that anyone endorsement like this one.
[19:10:08] BURNETT: OK. All right. Congressman Zeldin, thank you very much for being with me.
Now, my panel is with me, Alex Burns, political reporter for "The New York Times." Trump's supporter Kayleigh McEnany. Clinton supporter Basil Smikle. Trump supporter Paris Dennard. A former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz Amanda Carpenter and Clinton supporter Karine Jean-Pierre. Let me start with you, Kayleigh.
Three of the past four CIA directors in the past few days have said that Donald Trump is not acceptable to them. Hayden said so earlier to me this week. You have Morell now. Leon Panetta in incredibly strong terms said so at the convention last week and was also in an interview saying that with us. That's pretty damning.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I think they're taking political stances, honestly. And if you look around the world, I think we simply can't afford four more years of the last eight years when you've had 30 ISIS affiliates in 24 countries. I think that they should be introspective and ask themselves how we got to this point and ask themselves if they're the best ones to recommend how to go forward given the trajectory we've been on so far.
BURNETT: Basil, three of the past four.
BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Yes. I mean, it's a pretty amazing thing and to be honest I think what they're responding to is this sort of capriciousness that Donald Trump exhibits and they can't trust his leadership. It doesn't show mere inexperience. There is a political immaturity there that I think they're responding to and rightfully so.
BURNETT: Now, I mean, Lee Zeldin is not a member of the GOP establishment, OK. He's been very critical of them. He just made it very clear in that interview that he is glad Donald Trump is getting onboard with Paul Ryan and then it's important and politically necessary for him to do so. What does that say to you? Is Trump going to right the ship with this endorsement tonight?
AMANDA CARPENTER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SEN. TED CRUZ: I mean, it's a no-brainer. He's Speaker of the House. He happens to be a really good guy, he's popular in his district and oh, by the way, his primary opponent is calling for a debate over total Muslim deportation. His primary -- is trying to out trump Trump to such an embarrassing degree that if this guy could have any traction in this race, it would lead to such an explosion and discussion of the logical extension of Trumpism that he doesn't want to go there. He needs Paul Ryan to win. It's in everyone's interest and the fact that he even made this an issue speaks to how bumbling his candidacy is.
BURNETT: Yes. And Paris, to that point. I mean, why? Why did he do had this? Why three days ago he said he's not going to do it? He's not there yet. And then three days later he does it. Does that not make him look like a person of conviction and strength?
PARIS DENNARD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think if he go back and look at history. Speaker Ryan did the very same thing.
BURNETT: He took a month to think about it. I mean, he take three days.
DENNARD: But he still take a month to take about this. I need to weigh the options and come, I don't know him, and he said, I need to get time to do that and now Donald Trump has done the same thing. At the end of the day, the party has to unite and this is a good step forward for Donald Trump to do that, to unite the party especially in Wisconsin.
BURNETT: All right. All of you are going to stay with me for the hour.
Next, Hillary Clinton doubling down on her latest defense of her e- mail as the chair of the RNC calls her a liar. Why can't she let it drop?
Plus, dramatic video, Chicago police firing at least 15 shots at a black teenager, chasing him down and killing him.
And we are standing by for Donald Trump moments away from a major rally as critics increasingly question his mental state including fellow billionaire businessman Mark Cuban. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought there was an opportunity there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But then, he went off the reservation and went bat (bleep) crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:43] BURNETT: Breaking news. Donald Trump fighting back tonight. Trump and Pence about to share the stage together at a rally in Green Bay. This is a crucial rally for Donald Trump on this Friday night. Just moments ago Trump going after Hillary Clinton questioning her mental state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Unstable, Hillary Clinton, lacks the judgment, temperament and moral character to lead this country, and I believe that so strongly.
She's really pretty close to unhinged and you've seen it. You've seen it a couple of times and she's like an unbalanced person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Unbalanced and close to unhinged. That attack after Democrats and Republicans have raised questions about Trump's mental state.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may be the most biting talking point from the foes of Donald Trump, but there it was again. Listen to Democratic vice presidential contender Tim Kaine.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He recently criticized me saying I was a bad governor of New Jersey, and people --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he confused you with Tom Kaine.
KAINE: Yes. Tom Kaine was governor of New Jersey 26 years ago. I absolutely think he's confused.
FOREMAN: At the Democratic convention, it was a constant theme.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He spoke for 70-odd minutes, and I do mean odd.
FOREMAN: That Trump is somehow confused, delusional or just not with it.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Together, let's elect a sane, competent person with international experience.
FOREMAN: And it didn't start there. For months, Democrats have savaged Trump's ideas this way on the economy, women, foreign affairs.
CLINTON: They're not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies.
FOREMAN: To be sure, Trump's behavior is often unexpected.
TRUMP: I said oh, I'm going to hit them.
FOREMAN: Erratic.
TRUMP: Oh, I don't remember!
FOREMAN: And unconventional for a presidential contender, spurring critics to call him a sociopath, mentally ill and plain crazy, but others soundly reject those claims.
SEN. LINDSAY GRAHAM (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, he's not crazy. At the end of the day he doesn't have discipline.
FOREMAN: There is zero medical evidence to back the accusations against Trump. A statement released by Trump's doctor of almost 40 years says has the nominee has no significant medical problems and at a recent complete medical examination showed only positive results. Trump brushes off insults about her temperament like lint.
TRUMP: I think I have one of the best temperaments, certainly one of the best temperaments of anybody that's ever run for the office of president ever. Because I have a winning temperament. I know how to win because my whole life I've been winning.
FOREMAN: Still Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass has started an online petition demanding a psychiatric evaluation saying Trump's impulsiveness and lack of control appear to be symptoms of a mental disorder.
CLINTON: A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Now, it is worth noting many of the things that trouble Trump's foes delight his fans, his willingness to break the rules of Washington, to challenge political correctness and to say what he thinks and that has kept him within spitting distance of Clinton in the polls so maybe he is crazy like a fox -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Tom Foreman.
And my panel is back with me. And Alex, on that point, the crazy like a fox point that Tom just mentioned, the liberal columnist, Eugene Roberts and let me just emphasize, liberals, whatever your point of view is out there, let's make that clear, wrote about Trump in the Washington Post saying, "During the primary season, is Donald Trump's bizarre outbursts helped him crush the competition, I thought he was being crazy like a fox. Now, I am increasingly convinced he's just plain crazy, at this point it would be irresponsible to ignore the fact that Trump's grasp on reality appears to be a tenuous, at best."
Here's what's changed. I remember a year ago reading columns by Peggy Noonan, obviously who used to work for Ronald Reagan about people are discounting Trump, they're missing it, there's a lot there. Here's what she wrote today. Here's the truth of life. When you act as if you're insane, people are liable to think you're insane. That's what happens this week. People started to become convinced he was nuts and a total flake. How significant is that?
[19:21:08] ALEX BURNS, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: I think it's hugely significant, Erin. When you look at polls about, you know, testing the matchup between Trump and Clinton his temperament is just personal capacity to perform the responsibilities of the presidency is probably the biggest hurdle for him just outside of all the things he's done to offend various specific groups of voters. When I talk to voters out on the field who are undecided. I was up in New Hampshire and Maine the last couple of days, they say I just don't know about this guy.
I was talking to a Republican donor today who literally said the same thing, I used to think he was crazy like a fox and now I'm not sure that it's crazy like a fox. I do think that Tom's point is very well taken. That this is exactly what Trump supporters like about him and so you end up with a guy who is kind of doubling down on the strategy that brought him here versus Democrats who were trying to turn those strengths into a weakness.
BURNETT: Kayleigh, what do you say though? I mean, you know, Peggy Noonan is a good voice of the Republican Party establishment and it's a pretty damning thing to say.
MCENANY: Well, this is liberals in the Never Trump movement really overreaching because if you're going to question his mental capacity. Let's look at the evidence. He's built a $10 billion brand, he's hired tens of thousands of people, he's raised children with sterling reputations. He beat out 16 competitors --
BURNETT: Right.
MCENANY: -- in a field in which he never participated in. That is politics. So, to overreach and go to this really quite unbelievable level I think it's going to backfire.
BURNETT: And Karine, to this point, Donald Trump, you just heard him say, Hillary Clinton is unstable, close to unhinged, I want to make sure you say close to. He put that, he put that qualifier on there. Look, Donald Trump has survived every line of attack so far. Now, he has a lot of Democrats trying to say that he's mentally unstable. He's turned it successfully on his opponents before. He's trying to do it now. Could he succeed?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN, MOVEON.ORG: Well, here's the thing. Here's what we need to remember about Donald Trump. He is a ruthless, diabolical businessman. He knew exactly what he was doing in 13 months ago when he launched his campaign, attacking --
BURNETT: So you're crazy like a fox.
JEAN-PIERRE: No, I'm just saying he knows what he's doing and we're giving him an excuse and he is -- it's not about his sanity, it's more of like he knows, he is actually zeroing in on the populous base and that's how he got that 13 million people.
BURNETT: Paris, it's not just Democrats, though. Independents, foreign presidents, Republicans have all questioned his mental sanity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLOOMBERG: Let's elect a sane, competent person with international experience.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Donald, I mean, initially I really hope that he would be something good. You know, that as a business person, I thought there was an opportunity there. But then he went off the reservation and went bat (bleep) crazy.
BOBBY JINDAL (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can make America great again, but we will not do that by putting an unserious and unstable narcissist in the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DENNARD: This is what you call dog whistle politics. They're trying to caucus Donald Trump. They're trying to make his mental state like he's somehow unfit for the presidency. Let's talk about what is really the truth. The truth is you can talk about someone's qualifications which I think he is qualified to run, but you can also go into this narrow lane of questioning somebody's mental capacity like they did with Dukakis and I think for Hillary Clinton and all the Democrats, it is coordinated effort by the establishment and Republicans that are still refusing to get onboard and unify this part, it's deplorable and they should stop it today.
CARPENTER: Here's the thing. I think it's ridiculous for serious people to seriously question Donald Trump's mental capacity. What is happening is that he's driving the rest of us insane. He says these things deliberately to get a charge. He traffics conspiracy theories to stir it up. He likes to stir up traffic online. He's doing it to us. He's not insane. I agree with you. He does know exactly what he's doing and we shouldn't be falling for it.
SMIKLE: Just a word, I do want to be clear that we should not -- that mental illness is a real thing.
JEAN-PIERRE: Exactly.
SMIKLE: And we should not -- we should not sort of conflate what Donald Trump is doing with real mental illness. That said, this is an individual where I think what we're all saying is, we have no sense of his compass. We don't have a sense of sort of what drives of -- even if you want to talk about sort of whatever business acumen he may have. There are other folks like Michael Bloomberg who ran, who also is --
BURNETT: By the way, remember his accusation was not said lightly in jest --
SMIKLE: Not at all. Not at all.
(CROSSTALK)
And, you know, Michael Bloomberg obviously has an international empire and ran as mayor of New York City in a way that was not the way Donald Trump is running for president right now. He called Hillary Clinton a devil. I mean, he's -- I mean, there is no -- I don't know what it is. It's not insanity, but it -- but I do believe and I do agree that there is a method to what he's doing that it is clearly connecting with his supporters. The only question is, does it actually grow from what he currently has now?
BURNS: You know, I do just want to point out, there is a history of sort of light-heartedly suggesting that the other guy on election may not be all there, right? Democrats in '64 when they crushed Barry Goldwater, they used the slogan, in your guts, you know, he is nuts. We have seen this before.
[19:26:12] BURNETT: Right. Right. Although it is a bit different this time I think in what we've all seen.
Okay. Thanks to everyone. Of course you're all staying with me.
Next, we are standing by for a live appearance by Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton surprising reporters with her first press conference in eight months with another winding explanation of her latest comments about her e-mails.
And Donald Trump with the rare admission saying, he was wrong when he saw a video with a plane carrying ransom money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:32] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Hillary Clinton doubling down on a misleading claim about her private e-mails. In her first press conference in 245 days, that's a lot of day, Clinton insisting for the third time this week that the FBI Director James Comey declared her public remarks on her e-mails were truthful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What I told the FBI which he said was truthful is consistent with what I have said publicly, but I do think having him say that my answers to the FBI were truthful and then I should quickly add what I had said was consistent with what I had said publicly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: One issue, though, is that statement does not seem to be consistent with Comey's testimony on Capitol Hill.
Suzanne Malveaux is OUTFRONT live in Washington.
Suzanne, Trump and the Republican Party are seizing on these discrepancies.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they certainly are, Erin, because think about it, I was in the room with 1,400 other journalists in that room and you could hear a pin drop as people were trying to kind of follow what she was saying. This is a response that took about five minutes and really, at times, it was confusing, it was meandering and I'm not really sure this whole idea of the short circuited explanation really shed much light on this.
And so, it really was an opportunity for the GOP to seize on this and to seize on the narrative that she is not trustworthy. We heard from Reince Priebus, the head of the RNC, I read part of the statement here, saying, "Judging from the way Hillary Clinton kept lying at today's event, it's not hard to see why she hasn't held a press conference in 244 days."
The Trump campaign all over this, calling it more examples of habitual lying, also saying it was a pretzel-like response to a simple question.
So I'm not sure that she did herself much favor here in putting that out there the way she did. It was detailed, but it was very confusing. What she did do, Erin, is that she pivoted and tried to take attention any from the questions of trustworthiness and e-mail and said, look, at all of the things that I've done for the American people and the voters. They instilled their trust in me when I've gone out there to fight for jobs, or fight for children or fight for women's rights. Those type of things.
That is what the campaign is trying to do, is really establish that way of thinking and that strategy, when people think about whether or not they can really believe what she says.
BURNETT: All right. Suzanne, thank you very much. I want to bring back my panel.
Basil, let me play again for viewers what she said about the e-mails and then what Comey said about her, just so everyone can understand exactly what we're talking about here at its core. Let's just play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I am confident that I never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time it was sent and received.
REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her e-mails either sent or received. Was that true?
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: That's not true. There were a small number of portion markings on, I think, three of the documents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So why does she keep saying it?
BASIL SMIKLE, EXEC. CHAIRMAN, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, what he also said was that there were markings on these e-mails which could have easily led to someone saying or believing that these mails were not classified. In her mind, they weren't classified. Somebody looking at it in another way could come to the same conclusion. That's what he said.
Look, she's going to be dogged by this for a long time throughout the rest of the campaign. My guess is Republicans have pinned their hopes and aspirations -- presidential aspirations on her being indicted and that clearly is not going to happen. But, you know, this is going to come up again, and I think she's trying to do a really good job of sort of saying, look, I understand there are issues of trust here, but if you look at my record, we can go beyond that. BURNETT: Of course, she also said, Paris, that she would believe me,
I would know what is classified and not classified. So, why does she keep doing it? You heard Suzanne describe it, like a pretzel. It was tortured. It was five minutes and still people didn't understand what she was trying to say.
PARIS DENNARD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, it's funny. She is very disciplined at staying on message. The problem, Erin, is, it's the wrong message and nobody gets the message and she continues to reinforce the narrative that she's not trustworthy and she can't understand or accept the fact that people have a serious issue with her telling the truth. And this explanation of three to four minutes of going on and on is not truthful.
Anybody who watched what Comey said can understand that she's not -- it's not in reality. That's not what he said.
BURNETT: Amanda?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: On that point, watching her today something clicked to me while her untrustworthy numbers are still bad.
BURNETT: Sixty-four percent, by the way.
CARPENTER: She doesn't trust herself to speak about this. She hides from the press and this is the first time she's talked about it in I don't know how many days.
BURNETT: Two hundred and forty-five.
CARPENTER: She can't speak about these issues and it's in an extremely overly lawyered manner in which reporters who covered her for years can't even understand.
[19:35:08] She's got to figure out a way to talk straight with people, otherwise she's never going to heal those numbers.
BURNETT: Karine?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN, MOVEON.ORG: I was just going to say, look, unfortunately, it's a distraction she doesn't need. She needs to stay out of the weeds. She needs to stop talking like she's a lawyer when she's asked about this question.
The message that she needs to be on is, look, I made a mistake. I would never do it again and leave it there and move on. A good day for Hillary Clinton is when we're talking about Donald Trump racing down a rabbit hole. That's a good day for her.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Her explanation today was to Chris Wallace. She said what I was trying to say is that the FBI said what I said to them was truthful. Fine, if she would have stopped there, fine. She went on to say, and what I've said to the public was consist went those statements. Well, we know that what she said to the public was untruthful. So,
what she did today was essentially put the question in voters' minds and we know what you said to us was untruthful and if that was consistent with what you said to the FBI, did you commit perjury in your interview with the FBI? It opened up a whole bag of worms and it wasn't just the classified markings. It was having multiple devices, and not turning over all work-related e-mails.
BURNETT: There was all that. But, of course, when it comes to untruthful, it comes down to intent, and that is what Comey said is why he would not have gone that far because she had not intended.
ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Legally, it comes down to intent.
BURNETT: Yes.
BURNS: In terms of just ethically --
BURNETT: And to the public.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNS: This is the kind of thing, Erin, that just makes Republicans who were not with Trump all along, I would assume that Amanda is in this camp just, like, my goodness. Imagine if we had a nominee who hadn't buried this under fighting with the Gold Star family, fighting with John McCain, fighting with Paul Ryan, and we did spend the whole week with Hillary Clinton --
BURNETT: She didn't get much coverage this week and yet, Kayleigh, what she did get were a lot of polls that could be good for her.
Now, who knows? This could be a post-convention bounce. It could all evaporate, and we could be back to a dead heat next week.
But just tonight, we are getting something from Georgia, and the deep red state, hasn't gone Democratic since 1996 -- 1992, I'm sorry, and here we are 44 to 40 percent. She is ahead.
That is Georgia, that is one of what we got at least seven polls this week state and nationally that show her with leads.
MCENANY: The polls are bad this week. I mean, there's no coloring that. There's no doubt about it. But I can hope that this is a moment, a crucial moment, a good moment where Donald Trump can say, hey, the polls are down, I need to change something.
And something must auto correct because as Paul Manafort said, I think the framework of this election favors Donald Trump. Voters want change. They want a status quo. If he can get on message, he can win this and combat those polls.
SMIKLE: Well, what I would say to that, though, is given everything that we just talked about with these e-mails, what it shows to me is more and more Americans believe that Hillary Clinton is a strong leader, and she'd be a good leader for America. And that if you look at that in comparison to what Donald Trump is saying and doing and talking about that in my mind, you know, you have Republicans and Democrats and certainly independents.
I mean, that's what's really important here as well. You have independents who are I think are saying -- are looking at this and saying, you know what? I've got to go in this direction because, ultimately, it's country over party and she's the proven leader.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks to all.
And coming up, we are awaiting Donald Trump to speak in Wisconsin. A lot at stake for him at this rally tonight. He'll be there with Mike Pence.
Plus, after admitting he was wrong about seeing video of an American payment to Iran and a day the hostages came home, we have new video tonight of what seems to be that money in wooden pallets in stacks on a plane and it's just something you need to see.
An outrage over a deadly police shooting. Officers opening fire on a stolen car and the suspect an unarmed black teenager shot in the back, killed after running from police.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:44] BURNETT: Breaking news: Donald Trump just landing in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He's going to be holding a rally any moment now. We are ready for this. This is a crucial moment for him, waiting to see if he is going to endorse Paul Ryan. And also, will he bring up the top-secret Iranian footage he claimed to have seen?
He had been saying that video showed an American plane delivering $400 million to Iran on a day four hostages were released. Though, today, he did admit he didn't see that tape. It was a different tape he was referring to. Now, though, Tehran is releasing new video of what it says is the $400 million, and this is pretty amazing.
Jim Sciutto has tonight's big number.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESONDENT: A pallet loaded with what Iranian state television claims is cash sent by the U.S. The narrator says to pay back Iran's money after 35 years.
This video which CNN cannot authenticate aired in Iran just days after the release of four American prisoners. At the Pentagon Thursday, President Obama dismissed any connection between the cash payment which he acknowledged and the prisoners' release, saying negotiations were entirely separate.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We announced these payments in January. This wasn't some nefarious deal, and at the time, we explained that Iran had pressed a claim before an international tribunal about them recovering money of theirs that we had frozen. SCIUTTO: Until today, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed to have seen
what he called secret video of cash being unloaded in Iran just as those American prisoners were freed.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The tape was made, you saw that with the airplane coming. Nice plane. And the airplane coming in and the money coming off, I guess, right?
That was given to us, has to be, by the Iranians, and you know why the tape was given to us? Because they want to embarrass our country.
SCIUTTO: But this morning, Mr. Trump withdrew that claim, tweeting this reversal, quote, "The plane I saw on television was the hostage plane in Geneva, Switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to Iran."
Trump apparently referring to this entirely differently video, showing the plane that carried the freed Americans.
However, the timing of the two transactions, U.S. prisoners going out, hundreds of millions of dollars going in still raises the question of whether the Americans' release was conditional on the payment of money.
Saeed Abedini, one of the freed American prisoners, told FOX News that he and his fellow Americans waited at the airport in Iran for hours the night of their release and when he asked an Iranian intelligence officer why --
SAEED ABEDINI, FREED AMERICAN PRISONER: He told me we are waiting for another plane and if that plane takes off, then we're going to let you go.
SCIUTTO: CNN asked a U.S. State Department official whether Iran would have freed the prisoners without that payment. This official told CNN, it is, quote, "unknowable".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Tonight, a senior State Department official tells me that that money did not go into Iran on an American plane, although the president has said it did go in cash. One more note, this video that we're seeing of what Iran claims is this money is not the same video that Donald Trump had claimed to have seen. He now says, to be clear, he never saw video of the money. He only saw video of the hostages going free -- Erin.
BURNETT: Right. Thank you very much, Jim.
And, of course, you know, he said the Iranian government released that video and now they are releasing this video which is very interesting.
And I want to ask the Colonel Cedric Leighton about it, retired Air Force colonel, also former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Colonel Leighton, before I show that video again, though, I want to ask you this because you saw one of the freed American hostages in what is a pretty stunning sound bite, saying an Iranian intelligence officer told him, we're waiting for another plane to take off before we can let you go.
President Obama has said that $400 million was not ransom. Does it sound like, though, that it was a ransom payment or at least conditional?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Absolutely. It sounds like it was a ransom payment or a conditional payment, and it was clearly, in my mind based on the way that culture works, it was definitely a payment that had to happen before those prisoners were released.
BURNETT: I mean, it was pretty stunning just to hear that man say that that they were waiting for another plane. Obviously, the implication is that it was the cash plane.
I want to ask you about this video, right? Donald Trump said he saw this video and now he says he did not see this video. But in that, he kept saying, oh, it's Iranian government video. So, now, lo and behold, the Iranian government is coming out with what it claims is video of the $400 million in wooden pallets.
There's something about the tangibility of this if this is all of the money and all of these wooden boxes of money which is pretty stunning. Why would Tehran release this now because Trump brought it up?
LEIGHTON: Well, in part, I think it's really to embarrass the administration. They know it's part of the election discourse that we have here in this country, and they also, in essence, wanted to tell the administration -- no, we believe that we were paid in order to release these hostages. And therefore, we're going to tell our version of the story to the American people and to the world, and that's, I think, why they did that.
BURNETT: All right. Colonel Leighton, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Erin. Anytime.
BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, we're standing by for Donald Trump, as I said, speaking to that big crowd in Wisconsin. That's going to begin in just minutes. And, you know, at this point here, we know he's going to endorse Paul Ryan. That's what we've been told. Paul Ryan says he doesn't know what Donald Trump will say. We're going to be watching that. It's going to be an incredible moment.
And dramatic video of police chasing a stolen car and opening fire and killing the suspect, an unarmed black teenager.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:37] BURNETT: Breaking news tonight.
Chicago police releasing this video of a deadly police shooting. Officers chasing a stolen car, the unarmed black suspect fleeing on foot, police shooting him in the back, as you can hear the shots, he's killed.
Rosa Flores is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Newly released dash and body camera videos show the dramatic moments leading up to a deadly police shooting in Chicago.
The suspect, 18-year-old Paul O'Neal, was fleeing from police in a black Jaguar reported stolen, as he drives towards a police car two officers jump out. Firing at the Jaguar as it speeds by, one officer even pointing his gun in the direction of his partner as he turns around.
Seconds later, O'Neal slams head-on into a police SUV. The violent collision covering the SUV's dash cam with smoke as O'Neal takes off running. Body cameras show officers chasing him and moments later, the sound of gun fire. O'Neal was shot in the backyard of a home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands behind your back!
FLORES: The county medical examiner says O'Neal, who was unarmed, died of a gun shot wound to the back.
The officer who fired the fatal shot was wearing a body camera, but it was not recording. Investigators are trying to figure out why.
O'Neal's family watched the videos before they were released to the public.
BRIANA ADAMS, PAUL O'NEAL'S SISTER: I'm very hurt. Words can't describe how I feel at this moment, and how I felt when it happened. But I really want everybody to know that Paul was loved by my mother, his family, me.
FLORES: The family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department and the officers involved. Family members say some of the most disturbing moments are what the officers say after the shooting while O'Neal is still bleeding and handcuffed on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) man. I am going to be on a desk for 30 (EXPLETIVE DELETED) days now.
I have the gun.
He shot back, right?
He almost hit him.
FLORES: This shooting happening in what has been deemed a new era of transparency and accountability in Chicago.
EDDIE JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: As it appears right now, departmental policies may have been violated.
FLORES: The new police superintendent took swift action, taking the police powers away from the three officers who fired their weapon.
[19:55:08] It also only took eight days for officials to release the video, a move that at times has taken more than a year.
(VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Rosa, this video incredible, and we have all this video of the shooting. Yet, we're missing that crucial moment the teenager is actually killed. How did that happen?
FLORES: What we are learning from police, Erin, is that that body cam was either not on or was disabled and while police are investigating, they do tell us that they are pointing to one of two things. He is the police officer that was in that police cruiser that was hit head- on by the black Jaguar. So, that's one thing. That could have disabled the camera.
And the other thing is the police officer is part of a pilot program for body cameras and they had only had those body cameras for eight to ten days, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Rosa, thank you very much.
And next, Donald Trump about to rally supporters, about to endorse Paul Ryan is what we are told. Paul Ryan says he has absolutely no idea what Donald Trump is going to say and that's going to start any second from now. We'll try to squeeze in a brief break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: All right. Mike Pence just taking the stage at that big rally in Wisconsin. Donald Trump going to be coming up any moment and supposed to endorse Paul Ryan. Ryan knows nothing about it, says he will continue to speak out when he disagrees with Donald Trump. A crucial one to watch tonight.
We're going to hand it off now to "AC360" as the rally gets under way.
